This original novel tells the story of a young castaway* who faces hardships* on the high seas, and a meditation* on religion, faith, art and life. Author Yann Martel makes us question what it means to be alive, and to believe.

    Growing up in India, Piscine Molitor Patel — known as Pi — has a rich life. Young Pi reads a lot and knows not only the great religious texts but also literature*, and has a great curiosity* about how the world works.

    His family runs the local zoo, and he spends many of his days among animals, developing his own theories about the nature of animals and how human nature conforms* to it.

    Pi’s family life is happy, even though his brother picks on* him and his parents aren’t quite sure how to accept his decision to embrace* and practice three religions — Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam.

    When Pi is 16, his parents decide that the family needs to move to Canada. They close the zoo, pack their belongings, and board a Japanese cargo ship. However, they have only just begun their journey when the ship sinks. Only Pi survives, in a lifeboat with some animals: a zebra, an orang-utan*, a hyena*, and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Thus begins Pi Patel’s 227-day voyage across the Pacific, and the powerful story of faith and survival at the heart of this book. (SD-Agencies)